Die Another Day (2002)
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MI6 agent James Bond must uncover a traitor within his own organization while facing a high-stakes threat involving a mysterious billionaire and a high-tech orbital mirror.
The story
After being captured and held for 14 months by North Korean forces, MI6 agent James Bond is released only to find his status suspended on suspicion of leaking information. Convinced he was betrayed by a double agent within the British government, Bond begins a desperate search for the truth. His investigation leads him from the streets of Hong Kong to a high-tech gene therapy clinic in Havana, where he encounters NSA agent Jinx. The trail leads to a mysterious British billionaire, Gustav Graves, and a high-stakes game of espionage involving stolen diamonds and a secret technology that could reshape the geopolitical landscape of the Korean Peninsula.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being held for 14 months in North Korea, James Bond is released and told by M that his status is suspended due to suspected leaks. Bond identifies a double agent in the British government and tracks a lead to Havana, where he teams up with NSA agent Jinx to infiltrate a gene therapy clinic. They discover a link to British billionaire Gustav Graves, who is revealed to be the North Korean Colonel Tan-Sun Moon. Bond travels to Graves's ice palace in Iceland, where he discovers that Graves is using a satellite called Icarus to manipulate solar energy. Bond discovers that his ally Miranda Frost is the traitor who betrayed him. After a confrontation in the ice palace, Bond and Jinx flee to the Korean Peninsula on a cargo plane. They discover Graves's true plan: using the Icarus satellite to create a path through the Korean Demilitarised Zone to allow the North Korean People's Army to invade the South. During a mid-air battle, Jinx kills Frost, and Bond manages to disable the Icarus beam and defeat Graves, ultimately escaping the disintegrating plane to spend a quiet moment at a Buddhist temple.
- First release year
- 2002
- Runtime (minutes)
- 133
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Lee Tamahori
- Writers
- Neal Purvis · writer; Robert Wade · writer
- Cast and characters
- Pierce Brosnan · James Bond; Halle Berry · Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson; Toby Stephens · Gustav Graves; Rosamund Pike · Miranda Frost; Rick Yune · Tang-Ling Zao; Judi Dench · M; John Cleese · Q; Will Yun Lee · Colonel Tan-Sun Moon
- Genres
- spy film; action; thriller
- Themes
- betrayal; espionage; identity; technology
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; high-stakes; spectacle
- Setting
- International locations including Hong Kong, Havana, Iceland, and the Korean Peninsula in the early 2000s.
- Premise and plot tags
- spy thriller; secret agent; high-tech gadgets; international intrigue
- Source material / true-story basis
- Original story influenced by Ian Fleming's novels Moonraker and The Man with the Golden Gun, and Colonel Sun.
- Franchise connections
- James Bond
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the direction but criticized the heavy use of CGI, product placement, and the villain. Despite this, it was a box-office success and was noted for its high production value.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 55% · scale: percentage · review count: 226; Metacritic · score: 56 · scale: 100 · review count: 43
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe · Best Original Song · nomination; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Supporting Actress · win
- Production trivia
- The film's title is derived from a line in the poem 'The Day of Battle' by A.E. Housman.; The production featured a record-breaking amount of product placement at the time.; The film was controversial in the Korean Peninsula, leading to a boycott in South Korea.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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